United States Patent [191
Bendiks
[54] GRAVITY FED POWER GENERATOR
[76] Inventon Donald J- Bendilfs, 1020 Water St,
New Buffalo, Mich. 49117
[111
[45]
[56] References Cited
4,284,899
Aug. 18, 1981
U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS 3,484,617 12/1969 Winsel .................................. .. 290/44
4,075,838 2/1978 Pelin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 290/1 R X
4,095,118
6/1978
Rathbun .......................... .. 290/ 52 X
[21] App1_ No_; 90,573
Primary ExaminerJ. V. Truhe
Assistant ExaminerW. E. Duncanson, Jr.
[22] Filed:
Nov. 2, 1979
-
{57] ABSTRACT A power supply generator system including a fuel cell,
an impulse turbine, an electrolyzer and a regulator bat
Related U,s_ Application Data
, .
tery which serve to supply each other and a consumer
with energy. The fuel cell combines hydrogen and oxy
[63]
[51] [52]
dcgsetilnuatlon of Ser No 18605 Mar 8 1979 aban'
'
gen to produce electricity and water. The fuel cell is
located at a distance above the impulse turbine and the
Int. Cl.3 ....................... .. F03B 13/06; H02K 7/18 US. Cl. ................................... .. 290/1 R; 290/52;
290/54
water from the fuel cell falls to activate the turbine which produces energy. The water then ?ows to the electrolyzer to be separated into hydrogen and oxygen
for fuel cell use. .
[58]
Field ofv Search ................... .. 290/ 1, 2, 43, 44, 52,
290/54, 55
6 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures
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1
GRAVITY FED POWER GENERATOR SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
4,284,899
is transferred to
nected generator 7. Generator 7 produces energy which
This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 018,605, ?led Mar. 8, 1979 now abandoned. This invention relates to a power supply generator system having in combination a fuel cell, an impulse
turbine generator and an electrolyzer. '
Upon exitig turbine 6, the water is routed to electro lyzer 8 through conduit 11. Within electrolyzer 8, water is separated into its components, oxygen and hydrogen.
The energy required for electrolyzer 8 comes from generator 7 in FIG. 3 and from the generator and a regulator or storage battery 10 in FIG. 2. 1' If the height of water reservoir tank 3 is suf?cient,
10 then supplemental power will not be required from
The combination of these units into one system repre
sents an innovation in power generators. The individual
units act synergistically to produce fuel and/or energy
to feed other components as well as produce energy
through the combination of hydrogen and oxygen and,
also, has water as a byproduct. With the fuel cell lo
cated at an appropriate height above the impuse turbine,
the falling water from the fuel cells possesses sufficient kinetic energy to activate the turbine. The turbine pro duces electricity and as the water exits the turbine it flows to the electrolyzer where it is separated into hy
storage battery 10 used in FIG. 2. With water reservoir tank 3 located at 1472 feet above turbine 6, generator 7 is capable of producing suf?cient power to operate electrolyzer 8. FIG. 4 displays the increase in the amount of power produced as the height of water reser voir tank 3 above turbine 6 increases.
Electrolyzer 8 has a vent 9 (see FIG. 1) through which the oxygen produced is released to theatmo
sphere. Hydrogen produced through the electrolysis is
pumped up conduit 5 to fuel cell 1. Fuel cell 1 is an ion transfer cell, similar to those used on space ?ights. An example of such a fuel cell is the Allis-Chalmers hydrogen-oxygen fuel cell as shown on
drogen and oxygen with the hydrogen being produced
for use in the fuel cell.
The fuel cell, in turn, produces electricity for use in running the electrolyzer with any excess being stored in
batteries for future use within the system or by a con
sumer.
page 533 of Fuel CellsTheir Electrochemistry by Book
ris and Srinivasan. Within fuel cell 1, hydrogen is re combined with oxygen which has been introduced to the fuel cell is atmospheric oxygen through air intake vent 2. By means of ion transfer the hydrogen and oxy gen are recombined to produce electricity and water. The water produced flows through conduit 12 to water tank 3 to begin the cycle anew. The electricity pro duced by fuel cell 1 is directed, in FIG. 2, to regulator storage battery 10 where it is available for use when
needed for consumer use or as a power additive for the
Accordingly, it is the object of this invention to pro
vide an economical means for producing energy.
Another object of this invention is to combine the separate units of fuel cell, impulse turbine and electro
lyzer into an ef?cient energy producing system. Still another object of this invention is to provide a
new source of electrical energy.
Other objects of this invention will be apparent upon a reading of the following description.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 shows a diagrammatic elevational view of the
electrolyzer 8. THe power stored in the regulator-stor
age battery 10 may also be used in the electrolyzer 8 to
restart the system after a shut down.
system.
FIG. 2 is a schematic of the cycle of the energy pro
- duction for the system.
FIGS. 5 and 6 depict different embodiments of the system to accommodate the site of construction. As
seen in FIG. 5, a tower 14 can be utilized to house the
fuel cell and water tank when the land is ?at. On the other hand, if the area is mountainous or hilly, the fuel
cell and water tank can be located at the top or at any
FIG. 3 is a schematic of another cycle of energy
production for the system. FIG. 4 is a graph depicting the production of energy using the invention.
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the system in use. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of another embodiment
of the system in use.
desired point up the side of the hill, as shown in FIG. 6.
45
The projected maximum combined ef?ciency of this
system is about 50%. Therefore, water reservoir tank 3 is adapted to periodically release a predetermined amount of water into the system. By doing this, water need only be added to the reservoir periodically rather
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
50
than continuously for replenishment purposes.
It is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the details above given but may be modi?ed within the scope of the appended claims. What I claim is:
Referring to the drawings, FIG. 1 shows the overall arrangement of the components of the invention. The system includes a fuel cell 1, impulse turbine 6, genera tor 7, an electrolyzer 8 and storage battery 10. These components functionally combine to produce and store
energy from an abundant fuel source, water.
1. A power supply generator system comprising in
combination a fuel cell within which hydrogen gas and oxygen are combined to produce water and electrical energy, an impulse turbine, said fuel cell being located
Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, following the water through a cycle and beginning at water reservoir tank 3, the water possesses potential energy due to the height of
the water reservoir tank.
above said turbine, said turbine including impeller
means, conduit means extending downwardly from said
fuel cells to said turbine for conducting by gravitational
fall the water produced by said fuel cell to said turbine
impeller means to cause rotation of the impeller means
Upon release from water reservoir tank 3, the water falls by gravity down conduit 4 to turbine 6. During its descent, the potential energy of the water at the top of conduit 4 is changed to kinetic energy. The kinetic
energy of the water turns the impellers of turbine 6. The
rotation of turbine 6 in turn causes rotation of con
for providing electricity upon rotation of said impeller
means, an electrolyzer means for producing hydrogen gas by the electrolysis of water, conduit means connect ing said turbine with said electrolyzer means for con ducting water from said turbine impeller means to the
4,284,899
electrolyzer means to produce hydrogen, conduit
means connecting said electrolyzer means with said fuel
cell for conducing hydrogen to the fuel cell to produce
water.
3. The generator system of claim 1 and including electrical energy storage means for storing the electric ity produced by said fuel cell and said generator. 4. The generator system of claim 2 wherein said fuel cell is located'at least 748 feet above said turbine. 5. The generator system of claim 1 wherein said ?rst
mentioned conduit means includes a reservoir for said
2. The generator system of claim 1 wherein- the physi
cal location of said electrolyzer means relative to the
turbine being such that the kinetic energy of the water in said connecting conduit means when exiting said
water, said reservoir being located above said turbine at a location wherein said water passing from the reservoir to the turbine will cause rotation of said turbine impeller
means.
6. The generator system of claim 1 and including a
turbine being sufficient to independently enter the elec
trolyzer means.
15
regulator means for directing energy produced in said
fuel cells to said electrolyzer means.
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